Top 10 Best Speeches in Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy

Posted on March 10, 2014 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

What really sets Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy apart from Tim Burton’s and Joel Schumacher’s films isn’t necessarily their music (Danny Elfman arguably composed the definitive Batman theme music for the first Batman), action sequences (which are surprisingly few and far between), or even their boldness in taking the series in a new direction (you could say the same thing about every one of the first four Batman films).

No, the true difference between these films is the speeches. Christopher Nolan is a great writer, and he allows his characters to express themselves with some choice words. The earlier films didn’t have many poignant speeches that stuck in people’s minds, but Nolan’s films are packed with them.

So let’s go through the top 10 speeches in the Dark Knight trilogy from great to best. I think you’ll find No. 1 surprising at first and yet absolutely true once you think about it. Continue reading →

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The Always Good (But Never Great) Writer/Director Gary Ross

Posted on March 4, 2014 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

Poor Gary Ross. As a writer and director, he’s never made a bad movie. But he’s also failed to make a big impression on movie audiences through his films. Filmmakers like Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, and James Cameron, for all their faults, are household names because they made some films that struck a chord with audiences and made them unforgettable.

Gary Ross has a reputation for doing good films, but it doesn’t look like he’ll ever do anything more or less than that. Continue reading →

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The Best 3 Back-to-Back Years for American Comedy Films

Posted on February 25, 2014 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

I love a good comedy. Sometimes a few great comedies come out in a single year, like 1994, 1974, 1963, and so on. But rarely do we see a three-year stretch full of seemingly nonstop comedy gems.

So I would like to present the best three back-to-back years for American comedy films – the ones where so many creative ideas collided to create comedy films beyond compare. Those years are 1984, 1985, and 1986. Continue reading →

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Movie Matchups: Batman Begins vs. The Shadow (1994)

Posted on February 18, 2014 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

It turns out that the film that restored dignity to the Batman franchise has the exact same story as a failed adaptation of a 1930s radio show. I’m talking about 2005’s Batman Begins and 1994’s underrated action film, The Shadow.

Batman Begins has a lot in common with The Shadow.Think about it. A rich guy spends years in an Asian country learning skills to fight crime by hiding in the shadows. He then faces a villain with the same skills as him who threatens to destroy the city the hero protects. Plus, both of these films are inspired by radio shows and comics dating back to the 1930s and 1940s.

Let’s find out what similarities lurk in the heart of Batman Begins and The Shadow. Continue reading →

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Spoilers, Trailers and Other Terms That Mean Opposite Things for Movies and Cars

Posted on February 11, 2014 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

I’ve been trying some different things than my usual fare so far this year, from my discussion of funny character names to my theory on the connection between Frozen and Tangled.

I’m going to have a little more fun this week by taking a humorous look at terms that have diametrically opposing definitions when applied to movies and vehicles.

Let’s get this show on the road. Continue reading →

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Could Disney’s Frozen and Tangled Be Setting the Stage for an Avengers-like Team-up Movie?

Posted on February 4, 2014 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

When Disney bought Marvel in 2009, the two companies were in the process of making some big changes. Marvel had lofty aspirations of turning the few recognizable characters it still owned into successful movie franchises while Disney was retooling its animation department to turn out good movies again after spending years mired in mediocrity.

Marvel’s strategy worked, and they wound up spinning their great standalone characters into 2012’s epic ensemble movie, The Avengers. Disney has also had a string of hits since 2009: The Princess and the Frog, Tangled, Wreck-It Ralph, and now Frozen. But while Marvel clearly had the goal of integrating its characters into a single film from the start, Disney doesn’t appear to have any such aspirations.

Or are they just being really subtle about it?

Here are some hints that Frozen and Tangled might be the beginning of an animated team-up movie to rival The Avengers. Continue reading →

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11 Movies That Actually Live Up to Their Hype

Posted on January 28, 2014 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

Hype is a necessary part of the movie industry. Theatrical film releases have to compete with home theaters, tablets, and various other means of enjoying entertainment that are more convenient than driving to a movie theater, buying an overpriced movie ticket, and being treated like a criminal for wanting a snack that doesn’t cost three times what it does at a gas station across the street.

Studios have to get people interested in the movies they’re making and start building buzz. That’s why it’s so tempting to resurrect dead franchises and make endless sequels to successful films. It’s much safer than producing an onslaught of original content that has to start from scratch every time in terms of getting audiences’ attention.

A lot of times hype can be overdone, which is why it has such a bad name. You usually hear of movies being “overhyped” so they let people down when they finally see them.

Today I’m going to share 11 movies that managed to avoid the dangers of overhype and just be incredible movies that deserved every bit of hype they got. This is going to be the best list ever! Or maybe that’s hyping it up a little too much. Anyway, on with the list. Continue reading →

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Forgotten Film Gems: The Hunt for Red October

Posted on January 21, 2014 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

The first movie with Jack Ryan, Tom Clancy’s put-upon CIA agent, is still the best in that series. The Hunt for Red October came out in March 1990, it made a killing at the box office, and then it quietly disappeared from most people’s radars.

I know it’s not exactly the most obscure movie I’ve talked about in my Forgotten Film Gems section, but I still feel like it deserves a spot on here because it’s so good yet frequently overlooked. You don’t usually hear it mentioned among the best thrillers ever made. It occupies the middle ground between good and amazing that somehow precludes it from getting the praise it deserves.

So let’s pull a Crazy Ivan and see if we can spot what makes The Hunt for Red October a stealthy, stellar film. Continue reading →

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It’s Time for Spider-Man to Leave New York City

Posted on January 14, 2014 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

Why is it that we have movies with Sylvester Stallone climbing majestic mountains in Colorado and Tom Cruise scaling the tallest building in the world in Dubai, but Spider-Man (the Wall Crawler himself) has been confined to New York City for his first four feature films?

Don’t get me wrong, the Big Apple is a perfect stomping ground for Spidey with all of its skyscrapers for him to swing around. But does he really have to spend every minute of every film within those city limits? There are quite a few other big cities and high-elevation locales for him to visit.

I think it’s long overdue that Spider-Man gets a change of scenery. Continue reading →

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10 Unpleasant Things That Make Perfect Character Names

Posted on January 7, 2014 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

It’s a new year and I’m in the mood to have some fun. I have come up with 10 words that usually have negative connotations, but they work extremely well as movie character names.

Let’s go through these names and see if we can figure out what it is about these characters that allows them to turn terrible things into memorable monikers. Continue reading →

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